Strength
by CrazyLaviFangirl
Summary: "He who stands for nothing, will fall for anything." -Alexander Hamilton Renji X Reader
1. Chapter 1

**11****th**** Division**

To be a member of the 11h division spoke worlds about you.

To survive in such a tough area, you'd have to be a good fighter. You'd have to be tough, able to take the rough insults and the feel of a blade against your skin if you wanted to survive. You'd have to be stone cold emotionless while fighting if you wanted to fit in; to belong here, you had to be a killing machine.

There was a reason their members were feared.

I liked to say I fit in among them fine, I was just as hot-tempered as most of them. That caused enough scars and bruises to tell stories around the campfire for years; it was all in good fun, however. The people in this division understood the bloodlust that popped up during battle; they went as crazy as I did, and in them I found comfort.

I wasn't the only one.

It hadn't been long since I'd joined the division, and I had already a select few battle partners that I could call friends. The others were just fun toys to play with while I was bored, or feeling particularly rambunctious.

However, there was only one person I didn't feel the need to constantly intimidate. It might have been even because I had a little crush on him; the vice-captain of the sixth Division, Renji Abarai. To openly pursue a relationship with him would be a foolish, innocent school girl thing to do, in my opinion. Subtly was key after all, correct? Well, the way I showed affection was by sparring.

So he was often my sparring partner on afternoons where I couldn't quite relax. He never said no; it would wound his pride to back down to a fight. There was never a winner; we were either stopped from causing too much damage to the area around us, or we collapsed from exhaustion before a winner could be determined.

I let out a sigh as I thought of the attractive red-haired male.

Love was frustrating.


	2. Chapter 2

**Home**

After a particularly stressful day, I found myself lying down beside an old time friend of mine, Isamu Fujiyama. He gulped down another cup of sake, letting out a satisfied sigh as he tossed it onto the ground. I glared over at him.

"Don't litter, idiot."

"Don't tell me what to do, loser." He grinned though, placing his arms behind his head and staring up at the sky. "You know what's funny?" I turned my head to look at him.

"What would that be?"

"How the sky looks the same no matter where you are. It looked like this back home, too."

"That place is no home of mine." I scowled, turning to stare back at the sky. In my opinion, the sky here was much clearer; the atmosphere was easier to breathe in. I would do anything to keep the memories of my old home in the past where they belonged, and Isamu knew that. He had a sadistic side to him that enjoyed bringing up things that should be forgotten.

"It will always be your home, as it will always be mine." I sat up and glared at him.

"A home is a place where you feel welcome, where you aren't scared to die at every corner, where you can relax and be happy! That place is no home of mine. Only a memory that should stay in the past, got it?" He sighed, waving his hand to dismiss me.

"I got it, I got it. You can be so grumpy sometimes."

Sometimes, I really had to wonder about our friendship.


	3. Chapter 3

**Night Out**

"Thanks for inviting me out drinking, Matsumoto-san~" I hummed happily, gulping down another drink. Said big breasted vice captain simply smiled in response, giggling in her drunken stupor.

"Anytime, Kumiko-san~" She looked over at the drunken Hisagi, who was staring at me with a concentrated look. "Ooh, does someone have a crush~?" Hisagi jumped, his cheeks turning red, whether it was from the large amounts of alcohol he had consumed or embarrassment from Matsumoto's blunt question. I chose to ignore her teasing, turning my head to solemnly look at the object of my affection.

He was perched at the bar in-between two people I couldn't care less about; I pouted in his direction, willing him to come over and sit with Rangiku, Hisagi, and I. He, of course, did not turn around and remained alone. It was irritating that he was beginning to ignore me, even if he did have a reason.

A close friend of his, a passing acquaintance of mine, had been brought back from the human world lacking her powers. To make matters worse, he had been the one that had to bring her sorry butt back in the first place; what kind of shinigami would give away her powers knowing the consequences? Although I couldn't necessarily scold her, seeing as I was just as guilty of disobeying rules.

But after all of this, Renji had become depressed. Our conversations didn't seem to last like they used to, and in fear of me saying something that I would soon regret, I stopped visiting him. I stopped trying just like he had. Sure, a childish move in hindsight, but there wasn't much I was afraid of, and I had been so afraid of saying the wrong thing I just stopped going to him. My chances of him hating me for something I said was reduced to zero.

I didn't like feeling afraid or nervous, damn it! I was a soldier in the 11th division, I was supposed to be tough. I had to keep up a tough exterior or I'd be eaten alive; there was a reason that not many women made it there. They could be eaten alive by the taunts of the brainless morons in there that fought over spilt milk.

I grew strong. My skin grew tougher, I became more skilled, and in turn I grew stronger.

Yet I still wasn't strong enough to talk to him.

With a determined growl, I slammed my empty sake cup back down on the table, surprising the other three at the table. I had enough of this stupid scared feeling building up in the pit of stomach; I'd get it over with now! Whether he hated me or not, I was stronger than that!

"Excuse me sir, I believe you're in my seat." The man on the left of Renji, along with said pineapple head, turned to look at me.

"I've been sitting here for an hour now." The unknown shinigami replied gruffly. "Go find another seat."

"Move your ass before I impale your internal organs on my sword." The shinigami, although he tried to keep a straight face, turned pale and with a growl moved down a few seats. Renji was smirking at me as I took a seat beside him.

"You never change, do you?"

"You know what it's like to be in the 11th division, I just like to throw my weight around more." I elicited a laugh from him.

"I do." And then he grew quiet. I scowled, realizing everything I had wanted to say had completely disappeared from my head.

"You know, I have a lot to say to you!" I bit my lip as he turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "About the way you've been acting."

"Oh, yeah… Sorry about that, haven't been in the mood to spar lately."

"That's not it, you idiot!" I hissed. "It's all this Rukia business! Ever since she's been marked for death, all you've done is mope around like a pathetic little puppy. I understand she's your best friend, but the least you could do is acknowledge that you're not the only one who suffers from things like this all the time! You shouldn't let things like this deter you; if anything, you should be trying to find a way to save her ass instead of drinking in this bar right now! Actions speak louder than words ever will!"

Renji said nothing in reply, which frustrated me even more.

"That's all I had to say to you." I stood up, getting an incredulous look from the man who I'd forced away, but silenced him with a deadly glare.

"Well, how'd it go?" Matsumoto asked offhandedly.

"I went over there to tell him my feelings about this situation but I… sort of ended up yelling at him instead."

Matsumoto nearly fell to the floor in laughter, as Hisagi smirked a bit as he eyed his fellow vice captain. I let out a depressed sigh, reaching over and grabbing hold of Hisagi's drink and downing the rest of it.

It was going to be a long week.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Past**

The world around me was crashing down, and I was scared.

I was only a little girl, what was I supposed to do? I watched as the village around me burned to the ground, dead bodies lying cut up and bloody on the streets. The houses left untouched by fire were splattered with the blood of the innocent civilians; nothing was left untouched. And there I was, anchored to the ground and unable to run like I should.

"Come on, loser!" Isamu grabbed onto my arm roughly, roughly pulling me. My brain began to work once more, and I fell into step beside him. I pretended it was only a race between me and Isamu, when in reality it was to get away from the death that was calling our names.

We both fell back as large body, black hollow blocked our path to escape. My face contorted into one of pure terror, while Isamu held the hollow's gaze. He placed a hand out in front of me protectively, backing away slowly as the hollow let out a deep chuckle.

"Kidsssss, are my favorite!" It hissed, launching forward. I clenched my eyes shut as Isamu pushed me down to the ground in an attempt to take most of the damage. It wouldn't matter if he did now or not; we were both as good as dead. I knew as soon as I could form coherent thoughts that this village meant nothing but death, but I hadn't left while I still could. Look at me now.

The sound of Isamu's scream alerted me; my eyes flew open in time to see him fly back with a deep gash on his shoulder. The hollow slowly approached me, yellowed eyes focused on me. I didn't want to die now.

With wide eyes I watched as the hollow was sliced in half, letting out a scream of pain that mirrored Isamu's. A white haired man wearing a long, flowing white coat approached with a team of shinigami behind him. He must've been one of the captains I'd heard so much about from some of the people that had come back to visit after becoming shinigami themselves.

He approached me with a warm smile, leaning down and holding out….a piece of candy?

"Are you alright?" He asked; his voice was kind and warm, and left me feeling safer than I ever had before. I nodded wordlessly, taking the candy from his hands before looking over at where Isamu had landed.

"I-Isamu!" I ran over to where he was standing, being closely followed by the captain. His eyes softened at the sight of my fallen friend; he leaned down, gently picking him up in his arms.

"Take him to Unohana, immediately." The shinigami he had addressed nodded, taking Isamu from his arms before disappearing. I could feel my eyes begin to tear as I looked down at the blood soaked ground. It had been my fault he'd gotten hurt so badly, and it'd be my fault if he died. Sensing my sudden change in mood, the captain leaned down and easily picked me up in his arms.

"H-Hey!" I cried out in surprise. "What're you doing?"

"Well, I can't leave you here, can I?" He chuckled. "You'll come with me until I can find you somewhere better to live!"

"But you're just an old man."

"Ah, yes, I am, aren't I?" He laughed in light of the situation, reaching into his pocket once more. "Here, would you like another piece of candy?" I scowled as I looked at the tantalizing treat, snatching it from his hand like a selfish child would just to show him he couldn't win me over that easily. He didn't seem to notice my reaction, however, and continued to smile as he carried me away from the destroyed ruins of my home.

I didn't even know his name.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Past (Part 2)**

"Are you comfortable?" I looked up at the strange man with a tired look; I nodded before collapsing onto the bed that was surely his. I hear him chuckle softly as sat down at my bedside. "Your friend will be fine, Unohana promised to send word of his condition in the morning." I frowned a bit, snuggling into the soft pillow as I remembered what had happened a few hours before.

I just wanted to forget.

"Okay…" I replied, my voice soft. I was scared to the point I began to shake; everyone I had previously known was dead now, except for Isamu. And even his life was quickly slipping from his grasp. I was too confused on how any of the attack had begun, so I chose to keep my mouth shut, and not tell the man sitting beside me what was on my mind. "What's your name, old man?"

"You can call me Ukitake." He gave me another warm smile that sent shivers down my spine; I blushed and buried my face in the pillow in embarrassment. There hadn't been a lot of people like Ukitake in my village; everyone had tough skin and it was rare to see a genuine smile. "What's your name?"

"Kumiko." I replied shortly, although it was muffled because of the pillow I had buried my face in.

The scenes were still flashing before my eyes, the dead bodies littering the streets, the blood painting the houses a dark shade of red; I didn't even know a body could hold that much blood. I didn't know until today the sounds of screams of terror as unsuspecting citizens were burned alive; I didn't know the sight of broken bones and mangled bodies until today. And with the images continuing to come back to mind, I began to shake more noticeably.

"Tell me what's wrong." Ukitake's hand touched my head; I flinched in response, jumping up and smacking his hand away. I glared at him as long as I could, before I bit my lip to stop myself from crying. Ukitake's worried expression didn't change. "You can trust me-"

"I'm scared, okay! I'm scared of big monsters and blood and- and-" The tears slipped through without my consent; I mumbled unhappily as I tried to wipe them away. Ukitake, in one quick movement, gently tugged on me and pulled me into his arms. He pushed me into a position so that he was cradling me.

I wasn't sure what to think, after all, this was a stranger that I'd known for a few hours. His kind demeanor made him easily trustworthy, his smile just seemed so genuine and his eyes were filled with sincerity… I felt comfortable and safe, safer than I had ever felt before. Maybe I was being too trusting, but his intentions weren't dark or self fulfilling; it felt as though he really cared about me.

"It's okay to be afraid."


	6. Chapter 6

**The Past (Part 3)**

After falling asleep in his arms the night before, which I apologized profusely for even if he didn't seem to mind, he had taken me into Soul Society to visit Isamu. My friend had apparently survived his long night, although he was still in pretty bad condition.

Unohana was as kind as Ukitake was; she greeted me with a kind smile and led me towards the small cot where Isamu laid. He looked paler than normal, and his arm bandage was soaked in blood. Unohana asked me to sit down beside him while she dressed the wound; as his hands clenched I reached over to hold it. I wanted his pain to stop.

"Isamu…" His eyes fluttered open for a brief second, finding mine before a smirk fell onto his face.

"I saved you, brat… Good." His hand tightened around my own; I smiled as Unohana finished bandaging him up and left us to talk. I could still feel their eyes on me.

"Kumiko." Isamu demanded my attention. "Are you hurt?"

"No." I took another look at my arms and legs, finding nothing notable. "I'm fine. But you-"

"Don't worry about it." He replied quickly, wincing as he tried to sit up and face me properly. "You and I are going to stay here."

"What?"

"We're going to stay here, and we're gonna become shinigami!"

"What're you talking about? Ukitake-san said he was going to find us a home an-"

"Another home to get destroyed as we watch helplessly?" I frowned, quieting down as I let him speak. "We'll stay here and become shinigami, like everyone else here. We can grow powerful, we can be heroes! No one will die next time because we'll be ready."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"We've got the gift that shinigami have; that's why we're still alive. If we hadn't been useful to them, they would've let us die."

"I don't think-" Ukitake seemed like such a kind man, I don't think he'd have left us behind if he saw us and we didn't have this 'gift' Isamu was speaking of. He shook his head at me.

"You're still too naïve, kid. Grow up a little."

"Why don't you grow up?" I scowled, puffing out my cheeks as he laughed at me. His hand grabbed his shoulder in pain; he slowly lay back down onto the cot, staring at the ceiling absent mindedly.

"I'll grow stronger… And next time, they won't even have a chance to scare you, okay? I'll protect you."

I don't want to be protected. I want to protect myself. So that's why I decided to agree with him; I'd do what it took to become a Shinigami.

I'd do whatever it took to be strong.


	7. Chapter 7

**Visit**

"Hey, you here Ukitake?" I peeked my head into his work area, not seeing him anywhere in sight. His two annoying 3rd seats were there however.

"Show some respect!" Kiyone shouted at me with a scowl.

"Where is he?"

"_Captain_ Ukitake is currently at the Ugendō compound recovering!"

"Thanks." I replied with a smirk before sliding the door to his office shut. I could hear the angry yells of his seated officers cursing me as I left. I never really liked them much, and I already knew the feeling was mutual. They liked to frequently get into fights with me about whom loved/cared for Ukitake more…

They were basically crazy.

"I didn't expect to travel this far to speak with you." I let out an exhausted sigh as I kneeled down in front of him. He chuckled softly, before lapsing into a fit of coughs. He brushed off the worried look I sent him. "How have you been, lately?"

"I'm fine." He smiled again. "I've been recovering; I'll be able to head back to my duties by tomorrow." I shook my head at him, but managed to smile. Over the years he had raised and trained me, I had learned of his sickness and how to help him when he was out of commission.

"Keep going like this and you're going to keel over early, old man!"

"I've got a few more years in me." Ukitake's eyes slid over to the tea on the table; taking the hint, I prepared it for him as he continued to talk. "Is there any reason you wanted to find me or was it just to keep me company? Normally, you seek me out when you're in need of comfort or a listening ear."

I blushed, twitching slightly at his teasing tone as I handed him his tea.

"More for comfort than anything." He had become a father figure to me, as he was to many, and I did have the habit of seeking him out whenever I was distressed. He was the only helpful ear I felt as though I could trust completely; I trusted both Renji and Isamu, but they were different. Ukitake was a shining light in the darkness I tended to surround myself with; sometimes the violent way wasn't always the right way. "I'm frustrated."

"Does this have to do with a certain red headed lieutenant?" He placed his tea down, clapping his hands together in excitement. "Am I going to have grandchildren, soon?"

"Don't say things like that!" I became flustered, crossing my arms. "I won't ever come visit you if you keep it up, old man!"

"What kind of daughter wouldn't visit her father? I've raised you so wrong." He began shaking his head, a ghost of a smile on his lips. I glared at him, my cheeks turning redder.

"S-Shut up!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Help**

Knocking on my door woke me up near the middle of the night; irritated, I grumbled as I trudged towards the door. Flinging it open, I was rushed by Renji and pushed into the house. I glared at him as he paced for a few seconds, before sitting himself down on my couch.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked groggily, rubbing my eyes. It had been such a long day, and my sparring session with Ikkaku had done a number on me. I guess the fact I was still alive proved my endurance, but it didn't help the soreness of my wounds. Renji looked me over for a minute, a look of silent contemplation on his face.

"I need your help." He stated. "To save Rukia."

"Why should I help you?" I scoffed at him. "You've done nothing but ignore me for the past week, and suddenly you interrupt my sleep and expect me to help your stupid ass figure out how to save your stupid friend from a fate she brought onto herself?"

"H-hey! It was your idea in the first place!"

"I didn't even think you were actually listening to me!"

"I always listen to you, stupid! Now help me!"

"I don't even know how to help you!" God, I needed some sake right now. "I've never exactly been in a situation like this."

"Maybe Captain Ukitake-"

"He's recovering right now, and even then, he doesn't have much say." I crossed my arms. "You don't think he's already tried to vouch for Rukia? I went down to him the other day to speak to him about it…"

"Damn!" Renji shouted a few more curses out, before turning to look at me again. I almost felt sorry for him, but was it really my place to help out with some girl I hardly knew? It could get me into a hell of a lot of trouble, and I didn't want to have to deal with Kenpachi's punishment. It pissed me off that I was actually feeling sorry for the girl trapped and ready to die; the rumors that were being spread around said that it was her last resort…

"Fine, I'll help, just so you stop looking so pathetic." Damn Ukitake's naturally kind nature; he'd be disappointed in me if I didn't help a friend in their time of need. Even though I'd been in the 11th division for years, I was still affected by his teachings. "Now get the hell out, and if you wake me up before noon tomorrow, I'll kick your ass into next week. Now get out."

Without letting him have a chance to reply, I pushed him out of my humble home, slamming shut the door behind him. I let out a frustrated groan as I rubbed my temples; how was I possibly going to help him with this? I'd never back down from a challenge, and I certainly wasn't going to now, but the chances of saving Rukia were slim to none. We'd have every captain and vice captain after us.

I could really use a drink about now.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chivalry is Dead**

"A look of worry shouldn't be on such a pretty face."

"Thanks for the compliment, Yumichika, but I have bigger things to worry about right now."

I hadn't gotten any sleep last night, thanks to that red headed bastard intruding into my home. I was lucky I wasn't some sort of crazy stalker type girl who kept pictures of her crush all over or I would've been entirely screwed. Ikkaku and Yumichika had both laughed at me when I told them over breakfast about Renji's midnight intrusion.

The mess hall was loud and almost every inhabitant inside was rowdy; those who were quieter were still waking up. Soon it'd be a whole mess of fighting, yelling, and bragging like it was every morning. This morning I had chosen to slip away from the action, although I was thinking of picking a fight just to have my mind focused on something other than Renji.

Then I was joined by these two, and I begrudgingly told them about the night before.

"Hey, bitch." My eyebrow twitched as I turned my head, all to used to the bland insult that I heard on a daily basis. Being the only woman in this division besides the vice captain, I suffered plenty of sexual harassment and 'serve me' jokes. Most of the things I had heard in the first week of being in the 11th division were enough to scar anyone for life; I'd learned to ignore it. Now I didn't even blush when the detailed statements about what they'd like to do to me was practically screamed at me.

But right now, I was not in the mood to humor the bigger idiots of the division.

"What the fuck do you want?"

"That's no way to speak to your future superior." The man smirked, leaning down so that our faces were inches apart. I didn't move, remaining as calm as I had been previously as my eyes narrowed at him. "I'm challenging you for the sixth seat, bitch. Women shouldn't be seated, they should remain chained to the beds of men; only thing they're good for anyway."

Comments like that still managed to get me riled up; I sat up abruptly and roughly pushed him away from me. He glared at me, smirking and reaching for his sword. I mirrored his movement, ready to show him exactly why I was sixth seat.


	10. Chapter 10

**Fight**

Releasing of shikai within the barracks was forbidden, so it looked like the fight was going to be a regular old party. The man was entirely over confident and excited; not that I couldn't say I was feeling the same. I could feel the rush of adrenaline as we faced each other, swords raised and ready for some bloodshed.

The sound of swords clashing and cheers for blood were the only things heard in the 11th division.

I kept surprisingly alert, even with my lack of sleep. My animalistic side seemed to come out when I fought; it really got the blood pumping. I think it was the one thing Ukitake couldn't manage to wheedle out of my system; he had given me the confidence and experience to fight, although his suggestion was to avoid it if I could. I guess that was one lesson that didn't sink in too well.

He was strong; I had to admit that fact. His movements were wild and erratic, hard to predict but easy to avoid once I realized what he was going for. It seemed his strategy was to attempt to wear me down until I was a bleeding stump on the ground; he was in for a surprise. I didn't like cowardly strategies like that, while fighting you should shoot for the kill spot.

I didn't like to play with my prey.

His sword swung by my shoulder, ripping some of the cloth and sending a few strands of hair into the blowing wind. My hands clenched tighter around my sword in annoyance, I was faster than he was but my pattern might be easily detected within the first few moments of this fight. I jumped forward, ducking under another strong swing before smirking in triumph as my sword sliced his abdomen.

"Damn!" I heard him yell out as he jumped back, clutching his bleeding wound and glaring at my dangerously. It looks like he was finally going to take me seriously.

His sword rapidly clashed against mine; he was still working on his fatigue strategy while at the same time exerting more strength. I gave him no time to strike again, grabbing onto his sword with my bare hand before my sword cut through his shoulder like a knife sliding through butter. He let out another cry of pain; I head butted him and sent him flying back on his sorry ass.

As he lay on the ground, the crowd went wild with cheers and praise. I slowly approached the fallen shinigami, holding my sword to his throat as he looked up at me pitifully.

"You won; you don't have to kill me!" He was new, that was for sure. Words like that were what got you shunned within this Division.

"Sorry, there's no mercy for the weak." As I raised my sword to finish him off, a bright flash of light stopped me. Everyone looked up towards the sky in confusion; it was growing brighter. Everyone's attention was focused on the sky; the whimpering excuse of a man used this chance to make himself scarce, and watched as the light divided into four separate lights.

It looked like there were some intruders.


	11. Chapter 11

**Intruders**

It was like a frenzy of activity and gossip; a few days before there had been whispers and rumors of intruders within soul society. And now it seemed it was true. The only reason they could be here was for Rukia, right? Maybe I had found my way to help Renji without actually having to do anything; sounds like I was winning already!

There was a great rush to leave and find the intruders; I frowned, staying in my place as the barracks become completely abandoned. What could they be here for?

"Rukia!" I smiled proudly after realization hit me. "They must be here for her!"

And that means the end of my problems. If I could get them to save Rukia, then kill them real quick, make sure Rukia's taken to a safe place, and then Renji will be all mine! Well, I mean, I'll have garnered his respect and might be able to finally tell him how I feel. Yeah, sounds like a plan!

"Man, I'm awesome." I sheathed my sword, running off to find Renji, and hoping I found him before he found the intruders.


	12. Chapter 12

**Orange Haired Freak**

I felt as though I were walking aimlessly around, not catching sight of a single soul. A few excited Shinigami would pass me by every now and then, asking if I'd seen anyone suspicious. I brushed them off, pointing them in the opposite directions of where the lights had fallen before being on my way. I wondered who was stupid enough to even try and save Rukia from her demise; though noble, it did seem hopeless.

"Ah…!" I could feel Ikkaku's spiritual pressure from here; he had released his shikai. That could only mean one thing; he was killing my chance to save Rukia! With determination in my eyes, I began to run atop the roofs. To the left I saw considerable damage done, and figured that must be where Ikkaku was. I had arrived just in time to see Ikkaku collapse.

Damn! The urge to fight the intruder came to mind; if he had beaten Ikkaku, I was no match for him. It would just be fun, something thrilling to see new abilities and new strategies. However, as I arrived, I squinted my eyes through the dissipating fog to see a tuft of orange hair.

Who the hell has naturally orange hair?


	13. Chapter 13

**Ichigo Kurosaki **

I jumped down from my safe place on the rooftop, startling the orange haired boy considerably. He was bleeding badly already; wounds from his fight with Ikkaku. But he had still managed to beat him; it looks like I'd have something new to tease the bald man about later.

"W-Who the hell are you?" He shouted at me in surprised, holding his overly large sword at me. I looked at him boredly; this was supposed to be Rukia's savior? I was imagining someone much buffer, with normal colored hair and all. Although I suppose looks were deceiving, seeing as Ikkaku was lying in a puddle of his own blood, bleeding profusely onto the ground. "Are you here to fight me, too?"

"If I was going to fight you, my sword would already be at your throat." I showed him my sheathed Zanpakto before placing it carefully on the ground, just to gain his trust. I could fight as well with my fists as I could with my sword, if it came to that, but for the moment it looked like he was being peaceful. "What's your name?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki." He replied begrudgingly, setting himself down on some rubble from the building he had destroyed.

"I'm Kumiko." I turned to look at my fallen teammate. "I guess he's going to die if we don't do something about it, hm? Why don't you use that ointment on him? It'll be dishonorable if I do it, seeing as I know his honor code and blah blah blah."

He was extremely suspicious at first, watching me from the corner of his eye as he applied some of the ointment from Ikkaku's blade to his wound. It was an act of compassion for his opponent that Ukitake might have shown…

When Ikkaku awoke, he was less than pleased. He ranted on about this and that, about being saved by his own enemy and how dishonorable it was. When he saw me, no wounds and sword safely tucked away, I could see his heated glare.

"What a shame to be saved by my enemy." Ikkaku scoffed and looked away from us both. "If I could move, I'd kill you. Both of you."

"Stop being a baby." I muttered under my breath.

"Che. So ungrateful." Ichigo muttered from beside me.

Looks like we agreed on something.


	14. Chapter 14

**What A Hero**

"How many of you are there?" I asked curiously. He had already confirmed my suspicions that he was here to save Rukia. After the initial shock from Ikkaku, Ichigo turned to us both with a serious look on his face. After Ikkaku had stopped laughing from Ichigo's 'I'm here to save her!' line, I had my own question for him.

"How many people did you bring exactly?"

He looked away with a twitch.

"Five people and a cat."

I fell to the ground beside Ikkaku, unable to breathe.

These were Rukia's saviors, her heroes?

It looked like I was going to have to find another plan…


	15. Chapter 15

**Authors Note: Finally some Renji loving and not just character development! Reviews mean the world to me, and I thank the two of you who have reviewed, you're both awesome! **

**Same To You**

"Renji…"

After my encounter with Ichigo, I had quickly left to find Renji and see what he was doing. I'm sure he was doing what every other vice captain was doing and looking for the intruders, but I wanted to see if I could stall him long enough to have Ichigo reach Rukia in time.

It didn't seem like he wanted to work with me on this, though.

"Renji-"

"I'm going out to find them, don't distract me." With an annoyed twitch I grabbed onto his arm and forced him to face me. I was surprised by my own actions; I had technically assaulted a vice captain. Someone who was much stronger than me. It had been in the heat of the moment, though, I wanted him to listen damn it! And where words didn't work, force did.

"Look, they could save Rukia for you and stop her execution."

"They're dangerous and need to be destroyed." Renji scowled down at me; damn his tall stature. It only exemplified the power difference between the two of us. But I stood tall and proud, showing him neither his position in his division nor his tall, muscular body were going to intimidate me into silence.

Renji's glare softened before he let out a sigh.

"He beat a member of your own division, the third seat. Did you know that?" I shook my head, even if it was a lie. He didn't need to know everything just yet. "He nearly killed him. And your 3 seats lower, think of what could happen to you!"

"Thank you for the vote of confidence." I crossed my arms and glared, the feeling of disappointment building up in my stomach. I should have known better than to try and talk this hardheaded idiot out of his duty.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Renji scowled and turned to me. "Don't get yourself killed out there, alright?" To anyone else this statement may not have meant a thing but it caused my cheeks to turn pink. I turned around to hide my pink face from him quickly, blushing darker as I heard him chuckle. "After this is over…"

"What?"

"Nothing." He replied quickly, suddenly looking embarrassed as he scratched his nose. "Just don't get killed."

"Same to you."


	16. Chapter 16

**Friendly Visit**

"Ikkaku~" He twitched as he heard my voice; I entered into his room, smiling as Unohana finished bandaging him and left us to be. He refused to face me, his head being the only part of his body he could currently move. And immediately the teasing began.

"Looks like the big bad baldy finally got beat at his own game!" He turned his head quickly to glare at me.

"Shut up! You didn't even fight him, wimp!"

"He was already injured, where would the honor be in fighting an opponent already teetering on death? There's none!" Ikkaku grumbled under his breath, scowling and turning to face the ceiling. "Captain's probably going to come by and question you about him… Do you think he'll fight him?"

That was a stupid question. Of course Kenpachi was going to fight Ichigo, but if he ended up killing him… My efforts to keep Ichigo alive were beginning to turn futile, so maybe I should start helping out the weaker members of his party who wouldn't be targeted by Zaraki… Not that I had managed to find any other intruders since I met the orange haired shinigami.

With a frustrated sigh, I crossed my arms.

"Hey, Ikkaku." Said baldy turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

"What is it?" He asked in annoyance.

"I've… I've had a question I've wanted to ask you…" His cheeks turned pink as he looked at me, waiting for me to speak again. Why did he have a reaction like that? "Well, I was curious about… your feelings on…"

His cheeks only turned redder and he glared.

"Out with it, woman!"

"Well, would you rather be bald or have the mop of orange hair like that one shinigami?"

"GET OUT!"


	17. Chapter 17

**Searching for Isamu**

"Isamu? Isamu!" I had to have looked everywhere for my old friend, and I couldn't find him anywhere. I was wandering around aimlessly once more, having not managed to memorize may way around this maze like set of halls. Only the fourth division members had time to do things like that! "Ah!"

There he was tentatively arguing with Renji a few feet away from me. I frowned as I approached them; didn't they have better things to do than argue? I knew Isamu had no respect for Renji, but I didn't realize he would actually disrespect a vice captain… Well, I had too, but I liked to think of myself as a special case.

"What're you two doing?" I scowled as Isamu glared at me.

"Don't worry about it." He retorted, storming past me and away from a frustrated looking Renji. I was about to shout about what an asshole he was when Renji interrupted me.

"Why haven't you beaten that guy to a bloody pulp yet?"

That was a good question, because Isamu definitely needed a good ass kickin' to put him in his place. At times he could be condescending and cold, but others he was warm and comforting. It was like he had two separate personalities; I think Renji ended up meeting the worst side of him. Isamu wasn't a bad guy, he could be selfless if he cared enough about you, it was just… He was a bit moody was all.

"The same reason you're not letting Rukia die even though she's broken one of the most important rules we have as Shinigami."

"He means a lot to you, then?" Renji's scowl deepened.

"What's that look for?" I scowled back at him, but instead got no response. He turned and began to walk away, a frustrated aura surrounding him as he muttered to himself. I watched him leave for a few seconds before realizing he'd completely ignored me and my question, and I wasn't going to stand for that. I began to run after him, damn his long legs for making his strides a lot quicker than my own…

"Don't you ignore me you bastard!"


	18. Chapter 18

**Curious**

"Shouldn't you be out pining for Abarai?" I rolled my eyes at Isamu's icy remark; I had managed to find him after reprimanding Renji and informing of how rude it was to turn his back to a lady when she was talking to him. And then I got flustered because it was the second time in a week I had managed to yell at him even though I hadn't meant to. That wasn't the point now!

"Shouldn't you be out looking for the intruders?"

"They don't interest me." Isamu replied quickly. "But you know what does? Captain Aizen."

"Isamu, stop being an idiot." I had already heard his opinion on Aizen. Isamu thought he was suspicious because he was kind and incredibly intelligent, I thought it was just jealousy. To be suspicious of your own captain could get him into a lot of trouble, and I certainly didn't want to be in the situation Renji was in now.

"I'm not being an idiot, and if you opened your eyes, you'd see too!" He stood up with a determined smirk. "Don't get in my way, don't try to stop me. I already know all of your tricks."

"What are you talking about, asshole?" Annoyed, I crossed my arms. "You know, you've changed a lot since we became shinigami. I'm sick of it! It's like I don't even know you anymore."

"You don't." He glowered at me, before leaving me to stand alone.


	19. Chapter 19

**Pride**

Ichigo Kurosaki was much stronger than I had first realized, and even I was surprised as Renji lost his battle to the orange haired shinigami.

It was then that I realized that maybe my plan as self-centered, that I should've helped Renji in his fight or taken out Ichigo while I could. But it would've been a shot at my pride; it was dishonorable to outnumber a person in a fair battle, and attacking an already wounded man was cowardly.

I was no coward.

So I watched from the sidelines, and watched as Renji fell to his knees, begging Ichigo to save Rukia's life. I watched as Ganju and Hanataro easily grabbed a hold of Ichigo and once more disappeared into the sewers, away from sight. It was only after we were alone that I was able to approach Renji, kneeling down by his side as he stared into the sky.

He shifted his eyes to look at me, smirking.

"I guess you can make fun of me now, can't you?" He turned to look at the sky. "I'm still just a stray dog barking at the moon."

"Even a stray dog gets a bone once in awhile." I smiled weakly as I brushed the hair from his face. I flushed after realizing I had touched him without his consent; he said nothing, instead closing his eyes and relaxing his body. I could feel the lieutenant of the third squad approaching with a few other members of the medical team with him; perhaps they could heal Renji before he bled to death if they hurried.

There was nothing I could do.

And that hurt my pride even more.

"What about those taunts?" Renji asked weakly.

"They can wait."


	20. Chapter 20

**Unexpected**

I was just walking by the cell barracks, minding my own business when Kenpachi found me. He was carrying not only Yachiru on his back, but a girl with burnt orange hair. Ikkaku, Yumichika, and a shinigami I'd never seen before in my life were following close behind him. And somehow, I got pulled along with them by Ikkaku. It was just what I needed to make this long, tiring day even better.

Kenpachi easily broke through the wall of the prison barracks where the others were being held; the intruders regrouped there and it was the first time I got a good look at all of them. After their initial shock at a wall randomly exploding, they noticed my stares.

I looked towards the large breasted girl first.

"Your boobs are too big." I commented as I looked her over. She blushed in embarrassment looking down at her chest curiously. Ikkaku scoffed from beside me.

"Yours are bigger than hers." Ignoring his comment, I turned to his other companions in the cell. There was a pencil thin, nerdy looking boy and a tall, dark skinned, buff guy with a weird lookin' arm.

"You need to start working out-"I pointed at the nerdy boy-"And you need to stop." And then I noticed the bandaged face loser sitting on his bed. I peered at him curiously, realizing I'd seen him before. He had been with Ichigo just before he fought Renji. "You're a lot cuter with your face covered."

"Die!" He launched towards me, but I easily kicked him in the face and sent him rolling across the floor.

"Don't get me excited now; I don't think you could handle it." I winked and he took note of the dark undertone to my statement and quieted down. He had hardly managed to beat Yumichika, and I blamed that on dumb luck. I turned towards the unknown shinigami that had been traveling with us.

I had counted five intruders, including Ichigo, and this man certainly wasn't a cat…

"Who the hell are you?" He cowered under my curious stare; he looked familiar now that I got a closer look at him.

"I'm Makizō Aramaki!" I turned away from him without listening to the rest of what he was going to say, clearly agitating him. "H-Hey, you asked me who I was, so why aren't you listening?"

"Because I stopped caring." I deadpanned, walking to stand between Ikkaku and Yumichika. This further irritated him, although he kept his mouth shut afterward. Was this guy really a shinigami? He sure was cowardly, or maybe I was just that intimidating.

I looked at Ikkaku for a moment before turning away and scoffing.

"And you're too bald."

"SHUT UP!"


	21. Chapter 21

**Cornered**

"F-Four captain level people at once?" Aramakazi or whatever the hell his name was was freaking out from beside me. Man, this guy really couldn't take anything. As Yumichika reprimanded him, I looked up to meet Hisagi's gaze; I could see he was clearly as disappointed in me as Tousen was in Kenpachi.

"Four versus one isn't even enough to test my sword with!" Kenpachi was grinning madly now, pure killing intent radiating off of him. Kenpachi wanted to fight all four of them alone… How expected.

"W-What should we do then, Captain?" Wait, this coward is in our division?

"Shut up and go away." He ordered, annoyed. "Kumiko." I flinched as he called out my name; he turned to the side to look at me. "You and Yachiru will lead them towards Rukia; I'm relying on you to protect them and get me a rematch with Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Yessir!" I turned, not expecting Yachiru to nearly tackle me to the ground as she climbed on my back.

"Yay, quality time with Kumi-chan~" The pink haired bubble of energy cheered; I winced as her hug nearly strangled me.

"Kumiko…" I frowned as Hisagi looked at me.

"Sorry, Hisagi, but I stick by my captain." I turned away, not wanting to see the disappointment in his eyes anymore. Maybe after all of this was over… What did I expect to really happen? What if we didn't succeed in saving Rukia? We would all be tried for treason and we'd meet death once more.

That wasn't what I was going to worry about now. I was going to focus on the task Kenpachi had trusted to me, which was a great honor. It always felt good to know he found me strong enough to lead; but I wasn't going to get all mushy about it yet. I needed to actually fulfill my task before I could give myself a pat on the back.

"Let's go!"

And then we were off, rushing to save Rukia before it was too late.


	22. Chapter 22

**There is No Mercy for the Weak**

I had expected to meet an impasse, and he was named Marechiyo Ōmaeda, the vice captain of the 2nd division. He blocked my path due to orders from Soi Fong, and refused to move at my ordering. I stood my ground, refusing to give into his demands that I give up the intruders to him.

"No." I turned to look at Orihime. "You all need to lay low, alright? Go on without me, and try to meet up with Renji or Ichigo again." She nodded her head.

"Please be safe, Kumiko-san." Orihime bowed her head before running along with the rest of them. Ōmaeda launched himself towards them, drawing his sword and nearly cutting Uryuu in half. I blocked it with my own Zanpakto, refusing to give him ground as the others escaped. He turned to me with a glare.

"You're another traitor. And you know what traitor's should do? DIE!" He launched at me again, and that's when the real fun began. He was a big man, so it wasn't difficult to maneuver around his attack. He was seriously lacking in the speed department, although he excelled in the brute strength department. Although, that might've been because of his large weight, not his skill.

"Damn you're fat." I groaned as I repelled another one of his attacks, landing a few feet away from him. He smirked a bit, holding up his weapon.

"Enough playing!" He raised his sword "Crush, Gegetsuburi!" I watched as his sword transformed from its normal form to a spiked ball attached to a chain that he easily swung over his shoulder. "Bow down to me now, and maybe I'll lessen your punishment, girl." I regarded him with disgust, sneering at him.

"I'll never bow down to a coward. I would rather be dead."

"That can be arranged, girl!" The spiked ball was a lot faster than I had thought it would be; he managed to scratch my cheek, but compared to the wounds I normally suffered, that was nothing. I jumped along the rooftop, kneeling down as he recovered from his first attack.

'_Release me. We're already breakin' the damn rules anyway.'_ I glanced down at the sword with an annoyed look; having to release so early on in a battle was a sign of weakness. Then again, I was up against a vice captain, and I needed the fight to last as long as I could make it last.

"Fine, have it your way." I pointed my sword at Ōmaeda. "Burn them to the ground, Takeo!" I knew that I was disobeying every possible rule I could right now, but there wasn't a care in the world flowing through my head. To fight someone I know was stronger than me was thrilling, to say the least. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins as I thought of the fate that could be waiting this stupid vice captain. I felt powerful.

The flames shot from my sword, singing Ōmaeda face and lieutenant badge. He let out a grunt of surprise, glaring at me as he tossed Gegetsuburi my way again. I jumped spinning and sending another wave of flames toward him.

'_Burn his face until there's nothin' but a burnt lump of melted skin!'_ Takeo hissed angrily.

"I'm trying!" I mumbled unhappily as quick fire attacks were launched at me. I slipped around them easily, until my foot was caught on the side of some destroyed rubble. Ōmaeda grinned once he realized I was stuck; the spinning spike ball spun towards me faster than I could release myself. I braced myself for the attack, wining as I felt one spike penetrate my stomach. "Damn!"

I was pulled along with Gegetsuburi out of the rubble, rolling on the ground as I pushed myself away from the weapon I rolled onto my side, looking towards my discarded weapon that lie waiting for me to pick it up again. The intense pain I felt was unlike any other I'd felt in my life, but I ignored the bleeding and the pain as I crawled to regain my weapon. I couldn't lose. I wasn't going to lose, not this early on in the game! How disappointing would I be if I did that?

I'm an 11th division member damn it! I don't lose like this!

I held up my hands to stop the ball from slamming into me again; I came face to face with a spike that was ready to make my head into mince meat. I smirked, kicking an unspiked area of the ball so that it redirected back towards Ōmaeda. He hadn't expected this, and barely managed to avoid his own weapon before he fixed his gaze on me.

"You're as good as dead." He scoffed down at me as I could barely pick myself up after exerting all my energy into deflecting his attack. I refused to fall down to my knees; I wouldn't bow to this bastard! I won't bow to anyway! I backed up towards my sword, but he caught what was going to happen. "You have one last chance now, beg for forgiveness or die."

"I accept my death." I glared up at him with a newfound fire in my eyes; this battle was over, and I had lost. It was clear that the only way to finish this battle properly was to kill me, a traitor, once a for all. I bitterly thought of all the time I had spent training, and putting my efforts into growing stronger since I was young. It looked like none of it had mattered at all.

It looked like I was done for.

**Authors Note:** "Takeo" is a Japanese name that means 'Valiant male' or 'violent/warrior male'. Suitable to the readers personality, although Kumiko's a bit more relaxed.


	23. Chapter 23

**The Past (Part 4)**

My eyes remained locked with the dark eyed man in front of me, who was smiling calmly. His whole nature was generally relaxed; however the fact he had just waltzed into my new home and proceeded to stare at me until I woke up was annoying. Finally, I said something to break the silence.

"Where's my Ukitake?"

"Your Ukitake? How cute~" He smiled wildly, reaching forward and ruffling my hair. I blushed a bit at my slip up; I had become fond of the white haired man that had taken me into his care, and felt generally anxious without him around. It still didn't help the fact he wasn't here, and a strange looking man was staring at me. "He stepped out for a minute to talk, but he asked me to watch over you. I'm Shunsui Kyōraku, but you can call me Uncle Shunsui!"

"No. Go away, I want Ukitake!" I pouted and crossed my arms, refusing to refer to him as such until Ukitake came back and told me he was safe. The dark haired man chuckled, not fazed by my attitude as he remained sitting across from me.

A few moments later, Ukitake entered the room and my eyes lit up. He smiled as soon as he saw I was awake, and made his way over to sit with Shunsui and I. He sat down beside me, nodding towards who I assumed was his friend.

"Who's he?" I whispered towards him, using a hand to hide my mouth from Shunsui. It was obvious he could hear me, regardless of whether or not I blocked my mouth from him or not, but I thought I'd try to be a little more secretive. "He's weird. He's not some kind of pedophile, is he?"

"My, my! Where'd you get language like that?" Ukitake and Shunsui looked at me, surprise written on their faces.

"Isamu said that about this old man in the village who me and a few other kids used to. He'd ask us to pick flowers and herbs for him in his garden, but Isamu wouldn't let me go into his house after awhile. He said he had really bad intentions or something like that. But he was nothing but nice to me."

"Ah." Ukitake chuckled. "Don't worry, this man is a good friend of mine, you can consider him family." I looked towards the man curious, who had taken all my insults in stride and still remained friendly towards me. I began to feel guilty about judging him so quickly. I walked to stand in front of him, bowing my head.

"I'm sorry for being so mean to you."

"It's alright~" He replied cheerfully. "Now why don't you give your uncle a hug?"

"No."


	24. Chapter 24

**Rescue**

The expected pain of death didn't come; I gasped as a flash of pink flashed before my eyes.

"Uncle Shunsui…" I muttered under my breath. HE turned with a smile towards me as he deflected Ōmaeda's attack with ease. "What're you… doing?" I managed to choke out after another shockwave of pain shot through my stomach; I clenched onto the material torn material and glared at the blood soaking my hand.

"Kumiko…" I was suddenly lifted from the ground, and in someone's arms. I looked up and gave a weak smile.

"Ukitake." The pain was coming in quicker waves now, and my breathing was becoming heavier. My body began to involuntarily shake from the loss of blood, but I did my best to stay awake. "Don't… Don't hate me, okay? I couldn't let Kuchiki die… I made a… promise… to Renji and… myself…"

"I understand." He replied softly, looking towards Shunsui. The two nodded between each other, before Ukitake jumped and began to head towards the fourth division. I let my head loll against his chest, trying to even out my breathing so that my chest would hurt less. If I kept choking for air, the pain would only end up getting to me faster. I just had to relax my body and hope for the best.

"You should have… left me… t-to… die." Speaking was taking much more energy than normal; I just felt so worn down and sleepy now. My condition was deteriorating as the seconds ticked down; I wouldn't be conscious much longer at this rate. I hear him chuckle softly at my inquiry before he shook his head.

"What kind of father would I be if I let my own daughter die?"


	25. Chapter 25

**Betrayal**

The betrayal of the captains was unexpected; although there were suspicions, it was still shocking. I could tell from Isamu's reaction as we watched the betrayers leave that he was angry. Because he had known all along that Aizen was plotting something, and he hadn't bothered voicing his thoughts.

I touched my bandaged stomach with a frown as they disappeared along with the Menos Grande.

As the fourth division was ordered around to begin healing the injured captains, I was approached by a bandaged and healing Renji. I flushed a bit as he looked down at the bandages that adorned my exposed stomach and arms; I had forgotten to take off the half shirt Unohana had given me so that she could have easier access to my wounds. He smiled weakly, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"You got hurt because I forced you to help me." I rolled my eyes at him; what, does my whole world revolve around him or something?

"You know damn well that if I didn't want to help you, I wouldn't have. Just consider yourself lucky you caught me on a good day." I smiled to the best of my ability, although I was feeling much worse for wear. The wound in my stomach still throbbed painfully, but not enough to stop me from moving around. People found that not many wounds would stop a member of the 11th division; even if you hacked off their arms and legs, they'd use the bloody stumps until they were completely obliterated.

I had proved my worth in my battle against Ōmaeda; I had lost, but I had not given in. I had faced what I thought would be a quick death, but instead survived on the account of my father figure. Now all it took was getting stronger, so that one day I would no longer have to accept death. One day, I'd be able to beat it.

"Thanks for helping me, and for being a better friend to me than I was to you." He began to blush, looking around to see if anyone was paying us any mind. Most shinigami were still busy rushing around in an attempt to help the wounded, which meant virtually no one was focusing on our conversation alone. "I mean it."

"I'm a lot more selfish than you think Renji." I crossed my arms and avoided his gaze. "But I learned a lesson in the long run. You're always stronger when you're striving to protect someone rather than just protecting yourself."

"…Yeah." He smiled at me. "For your help though… you and I should go out for drinks sometime. Together. Just us… you know?" He became more flustered as he continued to speak; but I found it hard to keep the smile from my face.

"You got it-"

"Eh~ What's going on over here?" I turned to the side curiously as an arm was lazily draped around my shoulder. "Don't tell me Lieutenant Abarai is asking you on a date?" Renji began to sputter out excuses such as 'I need to check on Rukia and Captain Kuchiki' before he disappeared into the crowd of working shinigami. I let out a frustrated sigh.

"Thanks a lot, Captain Kyōraku." I gave him a pointed glare to prove my annoyance with him suddenly showing up.

"Aw, a few hours ago it was uncle and now it's back to captain."

Ukitake then approached to make matters worse.

"What's wrong?"

"Our little Kumiko is growing up, Jūshirō!" Shunsui pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. "She's got a date!"

"A date?" Ukitake mimicked Shunsui's fake tears, pretending to cry along with his friend. "They grow up so quickly!"

"S-Shut up both of you! You're both annoying old men!"


	26. Chapter 26

**Goodbye, intruders!**

And finally, it was time for them to leave.

I stood beside Ukitake as they said their goodbyes to Rukia. Ukitake approached Ichigo to speak with him on a certain matter, so I walked towards the three that I had grown fond of. Even if I had only known them for a short while, I liked them. Especially the burnt orange haired girl.

"Goodbye, Kumiko-chan~" She smiled brightly at me.

"Goodbye, Orihime-san." I couldn't help but like her, although she was against every single one of my principles. She reminded a lot of Ukitake with her reluctance to fight and her kind nature… I guess that explained why I liked her so much. Plus, the girl was adorably klutzy and in need of serious protection. "You may be a weakling, but you're cute, so you've got that going for you." She looked confused for a moment before she smiled again.

As the gates opened, I approached Ichigo after his and Ukitake's conversation ended.

"Hey, you!" Ichigo stated, looking at me. "You helped me save Rukia, right? Thanks."

"Breaking the rules is in my job description." I shrugged my shoulders. "But I have a piece of advice for you…" He raised an eyebrow, and I motioned for him to come closer.

"What is it?"

"Don't let anyone tell you to shave your head, alright? Your hair may be a ridiculous color but it's better than being bald."


	27. Chapter 27

**Farewell, Old Friend**

It was the dead of night; hardly anyone was awake except for a few late night drinkers. I looked up at Isamu with wide eyes as he stood before me, a determined frown on his face.

"Isamu, I understand you're mad about Captain Aizen but if you leave now-"

"I'm smarter than you are, Kumiko, I already figured out the consequences before I acted." I glared at him; maybe I should kick his ass now to put him in his place. My wounds were still bad, and if I reopened them Captain Unohana wouldn't be pleased with me. So instead, I watched my friend stare at the moon as he relayed his plan to me. "There's nothing here for me anymore, I'm moving on."

"If you run away they'll find you. This is one of the stupidest things you could possibly do."

"I don't care. I need to leave. I'll be back for you, okay? Stay safe, brat." He leaned down close to me, his hand brushing across my face in a surprising act of gentleness. "I'll protect you from that hollow if it means sacrificing my life." He stood erect once more, clutching his Zanpakto.

"You're more foolish than I am if you leave now, Isamu."

"Abarai will keep you safe while I'm gone." He ignored me completely as he opened the door to my home. "I'll be seeing you around, Kumiko." And with that, he was gone.

'What are you doing, Isamu?' I thought with a sad sigh.

Maybe my childhood friend really was gone.


	28. Chapter 28

**Frustration  
**

"I told you, I don't know anything else, Captain Yamamoto." I twitched at the close amount of attention the shinigami in the room were giving me.

After Isamu's disappearance had been noted, I had been the first to be questioned on his motives. After the betrayal of 3 trusted captains, everything was already on edge as the vice captains tried to take control of their divisions. Things were almost back to normal, but there'd always been that one worrying thought of another attack that we weren't ready for.

"You are dismissed." I stood up quickly, pushing past all those who stood in my way. I was ready to be left alone now; I was sick of being questioned all the time! It had been nearly a week since his disappearance and still people had the nerve to come fetch me for questioning at all hours of the day. Nothing was sacred anymore! I would get pulled away from my afternoon nap and my much needed bath time, it was like they were using any excuse to make me unhappy because of what Isamu did!

"Yo." Renji greeted me as I exited the first division barracks; I looked at him in surprise.

"You waited for me?" I asked curiously as we began to walk together. He nodded.

"Yeah, it's been hard to find you lately. Rukia said that you've been taken in for questioning every day this week, so I figured I could catch you here."

"Apparently it's the only place I'll ever be until Isamu is found." I let out an exhausted groan. "One day of them not barging in on me while I'm relaxing would be nice."

"Sounds like you need a drink."

"I could." I grinned up at him mischievously, hooking my arm with his. "Drinks are on you, Abarai~" He lets out an exhausted sigh, but from my peripheral vision I can see a smirk on his face.

I don't think he really minded.


	29. Chapter 29

**Date Night**

The date that wasn't a date started out smoothly; it was surprisingly easy to keep a conversation with him about trivial things such as fighting tips and what not. As the night progressed, however, the conversation topic shifted to Isamu and my attitude turned bitter. Why did everyone have to mention him to me? I was sick of hearing about him.

"He gets whatever's coming to him." I slurred, gulping down another glass of sake. Renji raised an eyebrow curiously; I began to knock down drinks like they were nothing, much to his amusement. Well, until he got the bill that is. As he begrudgingly paid it, I laid my cheek against the table and began drawing intricate patterns on the wood.

I had gotten so drunk I couldn't even walk home, so Renji opted to carry me.

I hummed a joyous tune, swinging my legs playfully as my head rested against his chest. I hadn't meant to get as drunk as I did, but things with Isamu had been frustrating me and I wanted to get rid of those depressing thoughts that were constantly gnawing at my brain. Renji seemed to understand, although I felt bad ruining our first… date? Is that what it was? Neither of us said it, but I think it was more or less an agreed fact among everyone that we knew who knew about this outing that it was a date.

I was starting to confuse myself.

"I like you, Renji~" I blurted out, wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling myself up to nuzzle his neck. He blushed, smirking weakly.

"That's the alcohol talking for you. We're almost to your ho-"

"No!" I tried to look at him seriously but instead burst into a fit of giggles at the look on his face. "I really like you, even when I'm sober. Honestly, you're the most attractive guy I've ever met. Tall, muscular, and powerful, and all the tattoos, ah~" My cheeks turned pink. "But I've always been too scared to admit it because well, I don't handle rejection very well. At least, I don't think I do, but anyway, not the point. The only thing I really have going for me is these colossal knockers on my chest." I released his neck to squeeze my boobs lazily, looking up to see a thin trickle of blood sliding from Renji's nose as he tried to keep his gaze forward. I giggled again.

"You're more than just… Uh, that." He coughed, readjusting my position so that I was closer to him. "You're strong, confident, and brave. I like that in a girl." He smirked. "You know, I need a girl like you… No, I just want you… the hell?"

But I had already fallen asleep in his arms.

**Authors Note:** If any of you love Ukitake as much as I do, I've recently posted a oneshot that you guys should check out~ Otherwise, updates may be slightly slower, since I'm still deciding whether or not I want to do the Bount arc first, or if I want to clear up the main character's history, and follow her own plotline for a bit (both plotlines have Renji lovin', of course).


	30. Chapter 30

**Hangover**

I groaned in pain as the world around me spun; I clenched my head as I sat up. My legs felt like jelly and my head felt as though it wore being pounded on with the hilt of a Zanpakto. I sat up, finding myself in my bed. After rubbing my eyes and stretching, I realized how much I'd rather go back to sleep rather than go to work.

So I flopped back down on my back, ready to go back to sleep when I heard someone snicker.

"I knew you were lazy, but going back to bed at noon?" Renji walked towards me, a steaming cup of tea in hand. "Drink this, it'll help the hangover." I pouted as I looked at him, pulling the blanket up to cover myself before begrudgingly accepting the tea. How drunk did I really get last night?

Well, I couldn't remember much... We were talking about Isamu, Renji got annoyed, and then he carried me home… I think I had said something to him that made him blush, but then again, I remember groping myself as well. That's enough to make any man embarrassed; well, it made Ikkaku drool but I was a happy drunk, so it wasn't my fault.

Had I said anything incriminating to myself?

While these thoughts were going through my head, I absentmindedly began to sip the tea, immediately spewing it all over Renji in disgust.

"What the hell is this?" I began to rub my tongue on my blanket in a poor attempt at getting the bitter taste from my mouth. "Disgusting!" Renji glared at me, wiping the liquid from his shinigami attire.

"Nobody said it was going to taste good." He scowled. "You didn't have to spit it out on me, either!"

"Don't give me nasty shit and I wouldn't spit it out on you."

"Don't be a baby!"

"I'm not a baby, I can't help it that it was nasty as shit!"

"S-Shut up! I'm already late because of you; the least you could do is drink the damn tea!" He shoved the tea back in my face; I winced as I proceeded to take the tea back from him. Renji was pretty damn lucky I liked him or I would've clobbered him and sent him outta my house; why was he still here?

"Did you sleep over?" He seemed taken aback by how casually I asked him.

"N-No!" He replied with a blush. "I took you home and left, and came back to check on you today. Ungrateful…" I would have retorted to the last part of his sentence had I not been trying to choke back the disgusting liquid that was slowly helping my headache fade away. "I'm leaving, Captain Kuchiki is gonna have my head."

"Ah, wait!" He turned around with a surprised look. "Ah, thanks for last night." He gave me a cocky smirk.

"Don't worry about it; next time we go out, drinks'll be on you."

I blushed at what he said; next time we go out? That means there was going to be a next time? And then I focused on the other part of his sentence.

"What kind of man makes a girl pay for her own drinks!"


	31. Chapter 31

**The Past (Part 5)**

I had been plagued for terrible nightmares for months after I had turned 18.

It was always the same dream, the same place.

It was the village, on fire with ashes filling the air. I wasn't able to take a breath without coughing violently. I was the only person around, the village was completely empty. For whatever reason, I was drawn into the village by a voice, begging me to call out its name. As I reached the center of town, a fountain of fire and brimstones was at the center; a dark, hooded figure sat in the center, red eyes glowing although the rest of his appearance was hidden.

'_Who are you?'_ I cried out to him.

He pulled back his hood, red eyes glowing and his mouth moving, but no words would come out. He seemed frustrated as he spoke, he began to yell at me, getting angrier and angrier… until I finally awoke in a cold sweat.

"What the hell?" I muttered unhappily, running my fingers through my hair in an attempt to calm my nerves. "Who the hell is that guy? I don't want to sleep anymore." I collapsed back onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling as I listened to the Koi in the pond just outside. The light knocking on my door caused me to rise and suspiciously make my way to the door.

"Hey, brat." I let out a sigh of relief.

"Isamu, why are you here so late?"

"Captain Ukitake is still awake, he let me in." I glanced towards Ukitake's room, noting that his light was still on before heading outside with Isamu. We sat in front of the Koi pond, watching the fish swim around while we talked.

Isamu let out an annoyed sigh.

"So you're going to get enrolled, right?"

"You know I am." I pouted as I looked at him; how many times was he gonna ask me in one day? "Just because Ukitake wanted to train me a little longer before I entered doesn't mean I'm weak." Isamu scoffed.

"Sure." He pushed his bangs from his face, turning to face me with a look of worry. "You think he'll put you in his division, then?"

"I'm sure whatever division I'm suited for is the one I'll be put in." I looked over him with a scowl. "Why does it matter to you?"

"I just don't want you getting hurt, brat." He ruffled my hair, laughing as I swatted his hand away. "Keep puffing your cheeks out like that and they'll get stuck that way; you'll never find a man looking like a fish."

"Shut up, you jerk! I-I don't need a man anyway."

"Of course you don't. Strong, independent Kumiko doesn't need anyone." Isamu stood up. "But I had another question to ask you." I looked up at him in confusion; normally he was much more straight forward than this. Now, it just seemed as though he were beating around the bush with what he wanted to say.

"Sure. I can't stop you anyway."

"Your nightmares… Have you heard its name yet?"

"How did you-"

"Answer the question."

"No. His mouth moves but I can't hear him."

"Hmm." Isamu crossed his arms. "I see why he's waiting. Well, next time you're asleep, listen closely. Listen to what he has to say, and then you might actually be able to become a shinigami." I glared at him as he walked away; why did he chose now of all times to speak cryptically? I grumbled as I returned to bed, pulling the blankets over top of my head so that the moonlight filtering in through the window was blocked out.

Maybe I should take his advice, and listen carefully the next time that intimidating man haunted my dreams.


	32. Chapter 32

**Bad Dreams**

It was a terrible dream, one that left me in a cold sweat. I woke up with a jolt, headbutting the person who was looming over me. I heard the intruder in my room let out a cry of surprise, holding his nose in pain as he glared at me.

"D-Damn that hurt."

"Why are you in my room?" I glared at Renji the best I could, despite the fact his hair tied back in a braid like that, with his robe slightly hanging open so that the tattoos on his muscles could easily be seen… Where was I going with that sentence? Ah, right! He was intruding in my room and interrupting my beauty sleep!

"You were whimpering so I came to see what was wrong." He rubbed his nose again. From my room, we could hear his phone begin to beep. "Looks like you have to get up anyway; get dressed."

"Bastard, who does he think he's ordering around…" I mumbled under my breath as I slipped into my shinigami uniform, yawning tiredly as I wished I could get more sleep. I frowned as he took out the braid, putting his hair up in his normal pineapple style. Noticing my stare, he turned to look back at me curiously.

"What is it?"

"Your hair looks good down."

His face turned red, and he refused to look at me as we left Urahara's shop.


	33. Chapter 33

**Rude Awakening**

**[Bount Arc beginning]**

"Why did you have drag me along?" I whined loudly as we wandered the streets; Renji turned and glared at me, the first time he bothered looking at me since we left.

"Captain Ukitake requested that you come along to the Human world with me." He turned away. "We're lucky we even found a place to stay… even if Urahara's a slave driver." I rolled my eyes as we continued walking along the road towards Ichigo's house. We jumped through his window, landing in his room where the sleeping strawberry was.

"Oi, wake up." Renji crouched over Ichigo, in a quite creepy manner if I might say, while I explored his room. It was so empty and plain, how did this kid live in here? I opened the closet, yelling in surprise as something lurched at me from the dark. With my Zanpakto drawn and pointing towards my attacker, it began to cry.

"Rukia, oh Rukia~" It sobbed unhappily. "I just got to sleep and then you guys come in here and-" It stopped speaking, looking up at me with sparkling eyes. "Ah~ Beautiful~"

Ichigo had lurched awake by now, glaring at the two of us as Renji ignored him. Renji grabbed the talking stuffed animal before it could attack me again. He began to ramble on about mod souls, but I was too busy looking around at Ichigo's room to listen to things that didn't interest me.

"What the hell are you two doing here anyway?" Ichigo scowled at the both of us; well, I'd be pretty pissed too if someone woke me up in the middle of the night.

"Can't you feel that spiritual pressure?"

"Orihime?" As they continued on their conversation, I rolled my eyes and opened his window. And they say women well the talkative ones? These two never seemed to be able to have a civilized conversation, one always ended up yelling at the other, and now neither of them would shut up.

"Stop talking and let's go, idiots!"

It felt like I was baby sitting children.


	34. Chapter 34

**The Search for Orihime**

As I had figured, we hadn't managed to reach Orihime in time before she was kidnapped. We had spent the whole night searching for her, with no luck. It was as though she had completely disappeared. It was odd to say that none of the kids around Ichigo's school remembered her either; the situation was becoming an odd one.

The five of us sat hunched together, discussing the matter of her disappearance.

"What the hell are you two doing here at the school anyway?" Ichigo glanced between Renji and I.

"What do you think?" Renji replied. "I've been given responsibility for this town. Obviously if anything strange happens here it's my duty to handle it."

"That's all well and good Renji, but it isn't what he asked you."

"It's none of your business regardless, Quincy." Uryuu's glare shifted to me; what, did this pencil shaped freak wanna start a fight? I could take him down without breaking a sweat!

"It is if you suddenly appearing ends up with Orihime getting kidnapped."

"Yeah, because that's our fault, we summoned those gates even though we just arrived at her house at the same damn time you did." This asshole was getting on my nerves.

"You're not helping, both of you just shut up!" My pointed glare ended up focused on Ichigo.

"I suggest you watch what you say, Kurosaki." He gulped nervously, coughing into his hand as Renji snickered. "You shut it too, Abarai."

After a few more moments of bickering, the conversation continued along its normal tract. We finally came to a conclusion: Orihime had been kidnapped. Ichigo suggested checking her house, and the rest of us agreed. We had already begun to leave when Renji suddenly raised a complaint.

"I thought you guys were supposed to be in class." He protested.

"Lighten up, this is more important than school." Ichigo retorted. I smiled innocently as I looked back at the aggravated shinigami.

"Yeah, don't be such a stick in the mud, Renji."

"Shut up!"


	35. Chapter 35

**Illegal Activities**

"Pretty sure it's illegal to pick a lock, stickbug." Uryuu glared back at me before continuing to work the lock to Orihime's front door. Chad, Ichigo, Renji, and I stood back and waited for the results. Ichigo turned to look at me and scoffed.

"Better than breaking down the door."

"A lot slower, too." I muttered back at him. "Come on, stickbug, someone's gonna see."

"Then how about you keep look out and stop bothering me." I stuck out my tongue at the back of his head and turned to watch the streets. Orihime certainly lived in a calm area; there were a few passing cars and kids who skipped class walking around, but not much else. No one was paying us any mind.

With a click, the door opened and we gained entry to her home.

'_This is the guy I pine after?'_ I thought as I watched Renji hightail it to Orihime's fridge, immediately beginning to sort through her food and devour it. To keep myself from saying something sarcastic that I'd probably regret later, I began to walk around her hours, noting that it appeared she had had a guest over. There was a partially full glass of water just sitting in the sink, like she had been distracted by something and just left it there.

"Look at this." Uryuu called attention over to himself. "Orihime had company. There's two cups." We gathered along the table to observe the two cups that _still_ didn't give us any clue of Orihime's whereabouts.

"Yeah, and no cookies." Renji sighed.

"Why do you have to keep talking about food?" Ichigo glared at him.

"'Cause I'm hungry, obviously, and your whining about it only makes it worse."

"You just emptied the damn refrigerator!"

"Well it wasn't enough to fill me up!"

"You're so rude, Renji." I muttered to him. He glared at me as he continued to eat.

"I'm rude? Shouldn't you be referring to me as Vice Captain, since I'm your superior?" I didn't like his cocky tone.

"Only in your wet dreams, Abarai." I hissed back at him; I was in the human world, and I wouldn't refer to him in such an embarrassing way. Especially not in front of Uryuu; he'd see that I was a lower rank than Renji and he'd think it'd be fair game to make fun of me! There was no way I was going to look weak in front of these guys.

Renji and Ichigo both turned pink.

"D-Don't say things like that!" They both shouted at me in embarrassment.

"Shut up!" Uryuu shouted.

"I'm leaving." I turned to walk away, but was stopped by Renji's hold on my shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Back to Urahara's shop, tell me when you _actually_ find something." I moved my shoulder out of his grip and left the house, slamming the door behind me with a scowl. Since I was in my Gigai, the people walking down the street could easily see me and most ran away in fear. I didn't realize it was obvious how annoyed I was but then again, it practically felt like steam was shooting out of my ears.

I can't stand being talked down to, especially by that… that cocky jerk!

"You have always had a temper." I stopped as the familiar voice reached my ears, my eyes widening as I looked around. I was walking along an empty alley, almost to Kurosaki clinic when I felt another as though I were being watched. There was no one here, though! I turned, my eyes scanning around for any signs of life, and after finding none I continued on my way.

Maybe I was just hearing things, after all, I could still be upset over him leaving…

'_I'll be seeing you around, Kumiko.' _

"Goddamn it, Isamu, why couldn't you just tell me what you're doing for once? Why do you have to do everything alone?" I let out a sad groan, leaning against a lamppost. I should probably head back to them now; to see if they'd found anything of interest. In fact, I could hardly pinpoint Renji's spiritual presence seeing as it was moving so quickly; they must've found something.

As I was about to leave behind this slow Gigai, not thinking of the fact finding a body in an alley would be someone's worst nightmare, I was stopped by a hand grabbing my neck and slamming me against the wall.

"Where do you think you're going?"


	36. Chapter 36

**Fear**

"W-What the hell are you doing, asshole?" I coughed out, grabbing onto Isamu's wrist. "Get o-off!" His arm dropped and I slid down to the ground, grabbing my now sore throat. This damn Gigai didn't have enough strength, and being caught completely off guard was of no help either! I glared up at my friend in anger.

"Nice to see you again too, Kumiko."

"What the hell is wrong with you? You see me for the first time in months and you strangle me!"

"Be quiet. If anyone around here hears you, they'll think you're crazy. They can't see me, remember?" I mumbled a few curse words under my breath, wanting to clobber him more than I had before he left, but in this fake body I was useless. "I can't trust you to keep yourself safe."

"Well things don't generally come out and strangle me!"

"I told you to be quiet." He hissed. "You're such an easy target here. Why did you accept this mission?"

"What was I going to do, Isamu? Say no and look like a wimp in front of everyone in my division? It's just the Human World-"

"You're in danger, and you have been since Ukitake saved you that night. If you're not careful…" He looked deep in thought for a moment, but I was still processing what he had said.

"Isamu… You're hunting that hollow, aren't you? The one who destroyed the village and nearly killed you?"

"I am." He smirked. "It took you long enough to figure that one out; I knew I was the smarter one of us two. But all my hard work of tracking it down isn't going to matter if you make yourself an easy target for him."

"You… You mean he's here?" A tiny feeling that felt like fear began to build; I wasn't afraid of much but that hollow… Ever since I was a child, I'd have terrible dreams of it coming back to haunt and kill me. It had made an impression on me, and it was hard to get rid of this fear. I was still anxious whenever I had to face hollows, even though that was what my job was all about. Facing other shinigami, that's no problem, but those evil, demons lurking in the dark, waiting to eat my soul… Those were terrifying.

I had thought I had gotten over this fear, but the horror seemed to come back in full force whenever Isamu came around. Had he reminded me of the village so many times before in our conversations because he wanted me to remain afraid? Had he been an asshole for a reason, or was I over thinking how kind my good friend could truly be?

"He was. I've lost track of him when I found you, which means he's gone back into hiding. He probably knows you're here."

"But, Isamu, how did you-"

"Don't worry about it. I have to go now before any other shinigami come around. Goodbye."

Before I could yell for him to stay, he disappeared, and I was alone again.


	37. Chapter 37

**Smother**

"Where the hell were you?" I was greeted back at Urahara's shop by Renji yelling about my whereabouts, and when I had entered, he proceeded to yell at me.

"Don't worry about it." I grumbled, still annoyed from earlier. In all honesty, after my interaction with Isamu I had run off to attempt to find him. He had always been better than I was with hiding his spiritual energy, and it seemed that was still the case. I couldn't find a single trace of him anywhere, and with the hollow possibly looming around the corner, I didn't want to get caught without a way to defend myself.

So, after searching for him I managed to drag my defeated self back to Urahara's shop. I was going to look for him again tomorrow, and I will find this boy even if it's the death of me! And according to him, it's going to be.

Back to the matter at hand…

"Did you find out anything about Orihime?"

They begun to explain how they had been running from phone to phone, talking to Orihime's presumed kidnappers until they were lead back to Urahara's shop. They were told to go back to her apartment at 8 to meet up with whoever the hell it was, and then maybe we could get Orihime back. That's when I began to hear Jinta speak to Ururu.

"If they're out tonight that means we don't have to cook for the moochers." Jinta jumped at the sound of my fist cracking; he may be a 'tough guy' sort of kid, but he was still scared of me. I reached down with an eerie smile, wrapping my arms around him and burying him in my chest. He began to flail his arms wildly, letting out cries such as 'help me!' and 'she's going to suffocate me!'.

"Call me a moocher again and watch what happens to you!" I released him from my grip, giving him one last icy glare before turning back to the terrified people in the room. Urahara and Yoruichi were the only ones who seemed unperturbed by my assault on a boy who was much younger than me and who I probably should've just ignored… but hell; I was in no mood from taunts from him.

"I'm getting something to eat before we go. Something to say?" I glanced at Jinta who only glared daggers at me, and said nothing as I left the room.


	38. Chapter 38

**Confused**

Utterly confused.

That was what we all were.

Orihime had returned, completely unharmed. She peered at us, completely baffled as to why we were all standing there. Ichigo began to question her, and it soon became evident that she had no idea what they were speaking out. It would seem that her memories had been wiped away as well. She remembered the day before, but not the day she got kidnapped, so it seemed her memories had been erased as well.

They had decided to stick around, much to my chagrin, to see if the attackers would show up again. Why they would attack the same person twice would be beyond me, however they all thought it was a good idea, thus I figured tonight would be sleepless as well.

We sat around the small table in Orihime's apartment for what seemed like hours.

"Nothing's happening." Chad stated the obvious; I just wanted to go back and sleep. I had hardly gotten the normal food intake for today, and I hadn't gotten any sleep since last night. I wasn't going to wake up for days after all of this was over, and it'll be hell for the person who does decide to wake me up.

"Wait a minute… something's coming." As soon as Uryuu had uttered those words, the lights went out. It only took a moment for the action to escalate; the windows were shattered and glass shards fell around the room. Renji tried to escape through the door, but found it to be blocked.

"Orihime, what're you doing?" My attention was drawn back to Orihime, whose arm were currently holding Chad in a chokehold.

"Orihime let him go!" Ichigo shouted at her. I really wanted to smack these idiots sometimes.

"Since when has Orihime had red glowing eyes, you moron!"

The fake Orihime laughed darkly, releasing Chad from her grip and jumping away. She seemed to fade away for a second, morphing into a man. He had on what looked like some sort of ugly hat that went out of style a long time ago, and two different colors in his hair, split perfectly down the middle. With a scowl, I stomped my foot on the ground like a child throwing a tantrum and pointed my Zanpakto at him.

"What the hell is with you people and your terrible hairstyles?"


	39. Chapter 39

**Authors Note:** What character trait of Kumiko sticks out the most to you? [Ex. Aggressive, Blunt, etc…]

"T-That's just ignorant!" The man yelled in surprise; surely he hadn't expected the first thing about him to be noticed was his choice of hair.

"Your hair is blinding me, please; I'll commit seppuku on myself if I have to continue seeing this." He dutifully ignored me, and turned to Ichigo.

"I'm Kurōdo, and I've been looking forward to this for some time. And there's someone else." His head tilted up towards the ceiling, where a figure in a mask and full ninja-esque attire appeared. Green eyes peered out from behind his mask.

"Pleased to meet you." What kind of greeting was that for enemy? Then again, greetings in the 11th division were more physical actions compared to 'hello's', like punches in the face or swords to the gut.

Ichigo and Renji both pulled out their swords; I mirrored their action before realizing I was still trapped in this stupid Gigai! You know what, I don't give a damn what Urahara says, I'm getting rid of this thing as soon as I damn well can! It's too weak, for one thing, and I don't know how to manually leave it without those soul pills.

Before the two shinigami in front of me could move, a red light began to shine in through the window, successfully blinding us.

"We'll be taking this one with us." When the light had faded a tiny fraction, we saw as Chad was sucked into the same portal that Orihime had been sucked into. Ichigo jumped out of the window after him, but to no avail. Chad had been pulled into the red abyss, and the gates shut. A childish giggling began to sound.

'_This is why I hate kids.'_ I thought bitterly to myself.

"Where are you!"

"I'm right here!" A little girl with short blonde hair, and bright blue eyes was sitting atop the gate, dangling her legs over and swinging them. The two others from earlier were standing on either side of her. "Hi there~"

"What the hell is all of this about?"

"I'm Ririn, nice to meet you too~" The girl giggled again. Maybe she'd be cute to me if her voice wasn't so damn irritating! And with all the events that she was causing to transpire, it was her fault that I wasn't getting any sleep! I'd take her down, child or not.

"What do you want? Why are you doing this?"

"Do you like my game?" She wore a bright smile as she said this, amusement dancing across her features. For a child, she sure was fearless. She was facing a guy with a sword that was almost bigger than his body and she didn't seem frightened in the least. She might've even reminded me of Yachiru a bit…

Renji left me along with Uryuu, jumping to the roof with Ichigo to prepare their attack on the three enemies that were standing before us, seemingly unnarmed. I could hear their moral debate about the girl; I'd give her a piece of my mind if I had my Zanpakto with me! But without it, I was almost completely useless. Especially in a weakened form like this; I would only get in the way, so I chose to hang back. Ichigo had defeated Kenpachi and Renji was a vice-captain, they could handle themselves in a fight.

"You two can go after the kid." Ichigo yelled down at us, as him and Renji launched themselves at the gates.

"Aw, such silly boys."

"More like idiots." I grumbled out with a roll of my eyes. The gates began to disappear, along with Kurōdo, Ririn, and the other ninja guy, leaving the shinigami speechless.

Chad was gone, and we still had no idea what exactly was going on. I groaned and slammed my head against a window pane, alarming the stickbug looking man who had been standing beside me.

This night was just getting longer and longer.


	40. Chapter 40

For some reason we had to go back to Ichigo's house, and get his creepy toy. Since we were on the move, Renji forced me to get onto his back as they jumped from rooftop to rooftop. I was highly conflicted on whether or not to enjoy the moment or to be annoyed with having to be dragged around like a doll that couldn't do anything. The sooner we got back to Urahara's place, the sooner I'd be able to leave this Gigai and be able to rely on myself.

As we landed in Ichigo's room, his body jumped up excitedly as it spotted me.

"Ah, a sweet angel from-" I kicked it in the face before it could snuggle itself between my breasts; Ichigo grabbed his body and the plush toy, and then we began journey back to Urahara's.

Urahara and Tessai looked up as Ichigo tossed his body down onto the floor, along with Kon, who was now in plush form. Apparently, Ichigo planned on keeping the creepy little plush toy with us. I cringed at the thought as I walked to my room, grabbing onto the soul pills beside my bed. I popped one into my mouth, happy as I finally had my sword back.

The mod soul in my body looked up at me lazily, through half-lidded eyes.

"Just get all the sleep that I need, alright?" I rubbed my temples. "At least one of us gets to rest."

"You got it." The mod soul replied lazily, falling back onto my bed and immediately dozing off. I couldn't even begin to think about how jealous I was. I rejoined the boys as soon as I heard Kon talking. They sat around the table, and began to discuss what could possibly be happening.

"Do you think Aizen could be involved?" Renji asked. "That would explain a lot."

"That wouldn't explain shit." He glared at me. "Why would Aizen worry himself about two humans? And he certainly wouldn't employ the help of those weirdoes. He's smarter than that and you know it."

"Urahara, were you able to find out anything about the telephone information?" Uryuu twitched as Renji and I continued to bicker.

"I didn't come up with anything." Urahara sipped from his cup. "My guess is we're not dealing with humans or soul reapers."

"Well, there was something strange about the spiritual presence of those three." I elbowed Renji in the side and told him to pay attention. He flushed and told me I should be paying attention, and then the bickering continued.

"Will you two stop flirting and pay attention!" Ichigo shouted from across the table; we both blushed and looked away from each other. Stupid strawberry bastard, why'd he have to go and say something like that!

"Anyway…" Uryuu sighed as he pushed his glasses on his nose. "I definitely felt something strange about the spiritual presence of those three."

"You could feel that?" Ichigo looked over at Uryuu in surprise.

"You've never been known for your ability to sense spiritual presence Ichigo." The orange haired shinigami scowled, crossing his arms and looking away from the stickbug.

"Shut your big mouth."

"Stop flirting you two." I muttered mockingly.

"Shut up!" Ichigo shot back. "You and your boyfriend are both annoying!"

"You and your boyfriend are more annoying, strawberry!"

We glared at each other from across the table, and Urahara let out a sigh.

"How old are you two again?"


	41. Chapter 41

Authors Note: Thank you so much to all who have reviewed, favorite, and followed! You inspire me to write more~

"They want us to come to the museum."

And off we were again, on our way to the museum to save Orihime and Chad.

"Hey, what's the meaning of this?" Kon began to complain as he wiggled around on Uryuu's back. "At least let that beauty be walking behind him, come on~" I glowered back at the stuffed animal; why could plush toys find me attractive but not Re- regular men! Yeah, why could regular men find me attractive? I wasn't ugly, just a little aggressive! But a lot of guys liked that in a girl, right?

Why was I worrying about that now?

Being stuck in the same place with Renji for an extended amount of time had my mind drifting from fighting to boys, and it was highly irritating. I was never a girly sort of girl, who pointed out all the hot guys I'd love to date, or wore dresses to bring attention to themselves… I just wasn't comfortable because I had seen all those sorts of girls while growing up, and they were all _weak_. I couldn't afford to be like them.

After meeting Matsumoto, my viewpoint may have slightly changed on girlier women. She was a vice captain, and relatively girly. She was a woman who could hold her own, especially while drinking, and she was one of the people I looked up to the most. It just… Every attempt she had used to help me become a 'girl' was futile, as I would resort to my old ways of doing what I wanted.

Maybe that's why things weren't changing for me, I wasn't taking any initiative to try and change.

"Oi, are you alright?" I looked over towards Renji while Uryuu and Ichigo discussed Kon; I nodded my head.

"Fine." He looked slightly taken aback by my tone, but didn't say anything else.

Maybe if I was a bit kinder it would be easier…

Damn it, since when did I let my insecurities get the best of me?


	42. Chapter 42

**Authors Note: **So we finally figure out who the intimidating man in Kumiko's dreams is…

**The Past (Part 6)**

Ashes pooled around my feet as I stood still, observing my surroundings once again. The world around me was slowly becoming clearer; I could feel the heat radiating from the burning buildings. I could hear the fire crackle. I was beginning to notice the things I hadn't been able to before.

With Isamu's advice in mind, I began to walk through the town in search of the hooded man.

The smell of burning wood overtook my senses; I scrunched my nose in disgust as I trudged on through the dirt path. Buildings were collapsed around me, but something I hadn't heard before were the screams of pain that echoed through the walls still standing. It felt as though I could feel the pounding on the walls, begging to be saved as I passed them by, but when I peered into the windows, there was no one there.

The fountain was no longer spilling out fire, but it was completely empty. The man was sitting there as normal, hood down but facing away from me. As I approached I heard his dark chuckle. He turned around, his dark eyes meeting my own before he stood. He was a good few feet taller than I was, striding forward with long steps until he was directly in front of me.

The power that he radiated could've suffocated me; if I hadn't been so determined to take Isamu's advice, I might've turned tail and ran away. But this was my new life. I was brave, and I was strong. I wasn't a little girl any longer, and running away from things you fear would never solve a thing. I would face my fears, I would listen, and I would discover what this man wanted from me.

"Who are you?" I asked bravely, puffing out my chest for extra effect. I wanted to show that simply because he was taller than I was didn't mean a thing; the bigger they are, the harder they fall. I wanted to prove I wasn't intimidated.

'_Can you hear me now?' _His voice was gravelly, and I had been thankful for my sanity that I hadn't heard it before. It added to his intimidating looks; his long, black hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, his bangs being kept from his eyes by a white headband. He clenched his muscles, which could clearly be seen through sleeveless black shirt he was wearing.

It looked like something right out of Chinese culture, which was odd considering the place we were in.

"I can." I replied, not letting my slight fear of him get the best of me. It was as though he were made to look intimidating; his face broke out into a wide grin.

'_That's good, kid. Now, answer a question for me.'_ He placed a hand on my shoulder; my eyes flickered downwards to get away from his intense glare, landing on his torn up and bloodied feet. It looked like he had walked to hell and back. _'Look at me, kid. Or I'll really be regrettin' this.' _I gulped, taking a deep breath and repeating in my mind that I had nothing to fear.

"Ask away."

'_Do you want to be strong?'_

"I do." That was why I had become a shinigami in the first place. To be strong, to no longer have to feel frightened of what was lurking in the dark.

'_Then call out my name.'_

"I-I don't know your name!" He growled, his grip on my shoulder tightening.

'_Just listen, you dumb kid, and what you hear, shout it. Shout as loud as you can. Got it?'_

This was the second time in two days that I'd been told to listen, by two assholes. I was listening, damn it! I could hear the crackling of the fire as it tore apart the houses, I could hear the desperate cries of the innocent being murdered, I could hear the cracking of his knuckles as he waited for me to speak once more.

And that's when I heard it, starting as a soft whisper but slowly growing in volume. A phrase that soon replaced the 'don't be afraid' mantra in my head. With a new fire burning in my heart, I looked up to meet his dark eyes.

"_Burn them to the ground, Takeo!"_


	43. Chapter 43

**Games**

"A game of hide and seek?"

Upon entering the museum we were met with childish giggles, and foolish demands. We were to find them ourselves, and she even had the gall to request we leave our weapons behind! Not only was that suspicious, it was suicidal. We didn't know what was lurking around the corner, but Orihime and Chad's life may be at stake if we don't listen.

They had even set aside cases for our Zanpakto to rest in…

'_You know you're bein' dumb, kid.' _

'_Yeah, I know.'_ I thought back in response, sighing as I placed Takeo in the case. I had a few bad feelings about this place, but what else could possibly go wrong? How many more of us could possibly get kidnapped?

With a sigh, I walked with the rest of the guys to continue exploring. As we entered another lit room, Uryuu stopped abruptly. I turned to look at him curiously, watching as Kon hung over his shoulder lazily.

"I take it you didn't feel that?" Uryuu asked as he looked around the room.

"Not just now, no, but I've been feeling a strange spiritual pressure since we got here."

"Great." I muttered in response. "We've got two stickbugs now, and I thought one was annoying."

"What's with this place anyhow?" After taking another looked around, the rooms looked as though it were constantly ongoing. The rooms seemed to spin as we looked down the three hallways in front of us; it was a complete maze! And I was as terrible as Yachiru when it came to directions…

As we headed through, it became apparent that this would be no easy task. The entrance had completely disappeared, despite the fact that we had retraced our footsteps quickly.

"At this rate you'll never solve the puzzle~" The little girl hummed over the speakers.

"I'm about to start kickin' walls down." Renji grumbled in frustration; now that was a man that spoke my language. Uryuu, as usual, objected.

"I don't think you'll accomplish much by doing that."

"Violence accomplishes everything." Uryuu glared at me.

"This is obviously some sort of game they cooked up in order to make fun of us and now it's our job to figure out how to solve this puzzle."

"The boy with the glasses is getting warm~" I glared up at the speaker situated in the room, wishing I could smash it. One punch and I would be able to shatter that completely. "I think you need a little more incentive~"

"What the hell does she mean by that?" Renji glared at the speakers along with me. "They're just making fun of us now!"

"I guess so-" I stumbled as the floor began to shake underneath my feet, but the other three didn't seem to notice. What was going on?! Before I could move the floor beneath me shattered; I let out a cry of surprise as I tumbled into everlasting darkness.

The last thing I heard from the boys was Renji shouting my name before everything went black.


	44. Chapter 44

**Friendly Fight**

'_Looks like you're royally fucked, ain't ya?'_

"Shut up, Takeo!" Wait, I was speaking to him still? I felt along my side, feeling the sword before letting out a sigh of relief. It would seem that I was perfectly fine after that fall, although my butt was a little sore from the landing. I stood up, brushing myself off as I looked around. "Where the hell am I?"

'_Beats me.' _Takeo snickered. _'Man, you shoulda heard the way he screamed ya name. Probably sounds like that in his wet dreams, eh?'_

"Shut up, you're so embarrassing!" My cheeks heated up at his perverted remark, and I blocked out anything else he had to say on the subject of Renji. My first priority was finding out where the hell I was, and what I was supposed to be doing to escape.

As though something had read my mind, a spotlight flashed on and pointed towards a specific area in the center of the room. I frowned as I slowly approached it, curious as to what it meant. I stumbled back, gripping the hilt of my Zanpakto as smoke began to fill the room. I covered my mouth and nose with my unused hand, coughing and staying low to the ground as I waited for the smoke to clear.

"You always did find trouble, didn't you, brat?" My head shot up at the sound of his voice.

Isamu!

There he stood in all his glory, his Zanpakto drawn and pointed at me. There was a mischievous grin on his face.

"What are you doing here?"

"None of your business." He stepped forward so that he was no longer in the spotlight, disappearing into the darkened room. "Now fight."

"W-what?!" I turned to the side, parrying his attack and falling back. "What are you doing?"

"Fight. Me. **Now**." He attacked me head on, the clashing of our swords sending sparks into the air. It became a battle of strength, with our swords pressing against each other to see who would give way first. My feet remained firmly planted in the ground, my glare on him. If he wanted to fight me, then damn it, he'd get a goddamn fight!

I used as much as force as I could to push him back, hitting him with a right hook and sending him into a wall. He let out a groan of pain, regaining his balance on the floor and gripping his sword again. He grinned and turned dark again, blending in with the surroundings as the spotlight went out. If this was how he wanted to play this game, then fine! I'd just have to light the room up myself!

"Burn them to the ground, Takeo!" The waves of fire that left the sword streaked across the room, illuminating it and giving away Isamu's location. The fire caught on his shinigami robes, setting them aflame, and causing him to panic. I stopped in my tracks and watched as he panicked attempting to put the flame out; Isamu never did that! Not even under pressure did he lose his cool.

That wasn't Isamu!

With a glowing red light, the figure disappeared and reappeared in the center of the room, spotlight once more on him. It was Kurōdo, looking at his now burnt sleeve with an expression of exasperation. He turned his glare to me, but I frowned. Shouldn't he be more worried with that train wreck he called a hairstyle, compared to a suit that could be easily replaced?

"It's not over yet!" He cried out as the room began to fill with smoke again; I wasn't quick enough to stop it from reaching my lungs this time around. I fell to the floor in a coughing fit, groaning as my grip on Takeo loosened.

What the hell was going on around here?!


	45. Chapter 45

**Embarrassment**

The next thing I know, I was being blinded by light.

"Kumiko-san?" As my eyes readjusted to the light, I turned to face whoever had said my name.

"Orihime?"

"Yeah!" She replied cheerfully. We were standing outside of the museum, where I saw Renji, Ichigo, and Uryuu run out of.

"Kumiko!" I heard Renji call out my name in relief, which caused my cheeks to turn pink. Takeo's comment from before came to mind, and I turned away in embarrassment as I thought about it.

"Orihime, Chad!"

It was then that I noticed the giant gates floating behind us, with two of the enemies standing atop it. We all turned to look up at it.

"You won fair and square, so we're giving you your friends back like we said~" The girl giggled as the ninja guy whose name I had never learned to bother tossed Ichigo and Renji back their weapons, before jumping down to stand in front of the portal. "Well, I've gotta get ready for the next game~ School is about to begin, all good students should be in their classes. I'd go quickly if I were you, or your friends might start disappearing again~"

The doors closed, and disappeared.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

As we ran towards the school, Renji ran beside me, looking me over to the point where I was beyond embarrassed.

"W-Will you stop looking at me like that?" I pouted as I looked at him. "If you've got something to say, say it."

"Are you alright? You looked flustered…"

"Well I did happen to fall through a floor."

"That's not it." He glared at me. "I know you better than that, somethings bothering you!"

"Nothing besides that annoying little girls giggle is bothering me, now drop it."

"No!" He protested. "You shouldn't keep things hidden; now tell me what's wrong." I twitched.

"Nothing's wrong!"

"Liar!"

"No I'm not!"

"Will you two quit it back there?" Ichigo turned around to give the two of us a dirty look. "We've gotta focus!"

"Let the lovers' quarrel, it keeps her out of my hair." Uryuu grumbled. I kicked the back of his knee, sending him tumbling forward in surprise as Kon protested. We stopped momentarily, now that Uryuu was incapacitated.

"Maybe you should watch your stick legs, eh, stickbug?" I stuck out my tongue teasingly as he stood up, pointing a finger at me accusingly as his face turned red.

"You tripped me!"

"I don't remember that. Do you Renji?" I looked towards the red-haired male for help; even though he was facing me with his arms crossed, he nodded his head. Uryuu was about to raise protest again when Ichigo spoke up.

"Come on, we don't have time for this!" Ichigo continued to run, the rest of us following his lead.

'_He can't even deny ya when he's mad at ya; whatta cute couple ya'd make!' _Takeo laughed mockingly.

'Shut up, you perverted bastard!'


	46. Chapter 46

**Stuffed Animals Are Trouble**

"It's time for the next game~!" That annoying voice was going to haunt me in my dreams, I'm sure of it.

There she stood her two lackeys by her side as she giggled childishly. "It's time for me to explain the rules to the next game~ One of you has been replaced with an impostor!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" I took a quick glance at the group surrounding me, wondering who the impostor could possibly be. That weird shape shifting guy had disappeared from her side, and had taken the place of one of us. I didn't like mind games; they gave me headaches and running on zero sleep did not help my detective skills out.

"I've got it!" Kon exclaimed, making a ruckus from the ground. I stared at him with half-lidded eyes, having forgotten the little nuisance had been traveling around with us in the first place. What had we needed him for exactly? "I think you ought to take a look at Chad and Orihime.

"No way…" I looked over at Orihime; everything about her appeared normal. She hadn't done anything out of character… And Chad had been silent since he had rejoined the groups. You know what they say, it's always the quiet ones. I kept my suspicious glance on Chad, but…

"Or maybe it's Kumiko!"

"Are you kidding me!?" The stuffed animal approached me, wagging one of his stuffed arms at me.

"It's been you all along hasn't it? You've been stringing us along like the devious person you are; I see how you start fights with everybody! Clearly, it's-"

"Hey, Kon, I have a question for you." The group grew silent, and even the little blonde girl and the red-haired ninja man had begun to watch the exchange between the two of us. "How tightly do you think I have to wrap my hands around your neck before that little stuffed head of yours pops off?"

I tried to tackle the small toy, but was stopped by Renji grabbing a hold of my shinigami uniform. I glared at Kon, fists clenched and ready to defend myself again.

"You better not waste anymore time you guys, the clock has already begun!" She begun to explain her foolish rules; I was getting sick of these childish games. At least the ones Yachiru played involved a decent amount of violence with a prize of candy; this only involved me losing sleep.

I wished I was back home in the 11th division.


	47. Chapter 47

**Friend or Foe?**

"You're watching her so adamantly." A chuckle sounded.

"You don't know her; she can get herself into trouble within seconds." Isamu replied, arms crossed as he observed the scene from the school yard. "She can't even realize we're here. None of them can. Fools."

"Don't be so condescending; you were a yuppy at one point, I hope you know."

"I don't want to hear it."

"I know you don't, but Isamu…"

"What?"

"Be careful."

"Like anything such as a rogue hollow would give me trouble." With a scoff Isamu disappeared to watch from a different vantage point, without the annoyance of another person there to pester him.

"The hollow isn't the trouble, my boy." The man shook his head, stroking his head thoughtfully. "Your emotions are just as unpredictable as hers."

And then he was gone.


	48. Chapter 48

**Chat**

**Author's Note**: Terrible foreshadowing?! Perhaps…

Jushiro let out a sigh at the sight of the empty room. It had only been a few weeks since she had joined the shinigami academy, and he already missed her company. Shunsui noticed his friends staring, and let out a chuckle.

"Miss her already?" He teased as he took a drink of his sake. "She hasn't been gone long."

"More worried than anything."

"The girl has nothing to worry about, Jushiro. She's tough and beautiful." Shunsui laughed again. "Soon, you'll have suitors lined up asking for her hand in marriage!" At that statement, the white haired captain laughed and sipped his tea.

"If she weren't so aggressive, perhaps, but I feel she may be… off putting to most men. Not many like being weaker than their partner."

"I wouldn't say Abarai-san is weaker than her… I'd say they're on the same level." Shunsui chuckled dryly as he placed his cup down. "You have to admit, they'd be a cute couple." The 13th division captain chuckled in response at the thought; it was hard for him to imagine his own daughter becoming a housewife. In fact, he was almost positive that it would never happen.

"She's a born warrior."

"Are you so sure of that?" Jushiro shot a confused look towards his friend, who had decided to pull his hat over his eyes to cover them. "Depending on the situations we're in, we adapt. Perhaps if she had another person to lean on, she wouldn't have to be so abrasive…"

"I suppose you could be right, old friend." He smiled lightly, taking a sip of his tea again. "Whatever makes her happy, will make me happy."

"That, I'm not so sure of either…"

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

Shunsui chuckled.

"I just think that our little girl was forced to grow up far too fast; you said she had you train her since day one, correct?"

"That's right…" Jushiro nodded. "From day one she's worked hard to achieve what she has now, and she still works hard …"

"And after her friend's disappearance… What was her reaction to that, exactly?"

"She was angry; she ranted to me for hours."

"But no tears for her lost friend, right?"

"I haven't seen her cry since she's come to my home; besides that first night, no matter how tough the training or how terrible the wound, I haven't seen her cry."

"Let's just hope she breaks that habit…" Shunsui sighed, taking his chance to lay on the floor of his old friends home. "…Now that I think of it, I'm worried about her, too. But not because of this mission."

"…Yeah."

Silence ensued.


End file.
